Farmer's Lung in an Adolescent Boy

REPEATED exposure to any one of several organic dusts can result in acute and chronic pulmonary changes. In the acute illness, there is abrupt onset of cough, chills, fever, and weight loss. The chronic form of the disease is characterized by progressive cough, dyspnea, and pulmonary insufficiency.¹ The only effective preventative measure for this chronic phase is to completely avoid contact with the particular dust. To this end, early recognition of the syndrome is of prime importance. Most of the pertinent literature is concerned with adult patients,^2-6 and many pediatricians are unfamiliar with the various organic dust inhalation syndromes. The prototype of these syndromes is called farmer's lung because of its predominant occurrence in agricultural workers. The occurrence of the farmer's lung syndrome in a 15-year-old farmboy, with a recurrence of the disease on re-exposure, will be described along with certain diagnostic procedures.

Report of a Case  A